Karoline Leavitt has become the face of the Trump Administration.
At 28, she became the youngest White House Press Secretary in history.
And yet while Leavitt is now famous worldwide, little is known about her private life.
Today, Karoline is a wife and mother, with a husband some 32 years her senior. And while she tries to spend as much time with her baby boy as possible, Leavitt has stated that she feels guilty not being there for her son.
Karoline Leavitt has been around the White House for many years.
One must remember, of course, that she’s only 28, an age at which people working in the political spectrum could only dream of setting their foot inside the doors of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, even as guests.
The meteoric rise of her career is nothing short impressive, though she’s certainly got her work cut out for her. After all, there haven’t been many more divisive periods in US politics – something that Leavitt has seen from the front row.
So, how did she end up in the White House?
Born on August 24, 1997, in Atkinson, New Hampshire, Karoline Leavitt understood what hard work meant from an early age. Her parents owned an ice cream stand, which she worked at during the summers.
She attended Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Massachusetts. On The Catholic Current podcast in 2021, Karoline said that her Catholic education “really formed” who she is.
“It taught me discipline, it brought me closer in my own relationship with God, and it also taught me the importance of public service and giving back to your community,” she explained.
Karoline Leavitt – childhood, school
Leavitt then enrolled at Saint Anselm College–a Catholic liberal arts college in Manchester, New Hampshire– on a softball scholarship, playing outfield for the Saint Anselm Hawks softball team. While softball and working in politics might not be closely related, for Karoline, playing sports in college has helped her in her career in Washington.
“I think that value of hard work and determination and drive was instilled in me in a very young age, just by watching my parents work so hard to earn a living,” Leavitt told the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN).
“The game of softball in sports prepared me for the game of politics, no doubt about it. Discipline, hard work, teamwork and also competing against yourself to be the best that you can in athletics, I think, has prepared me especially for this job now,” she added.
In college, Leavitt demonstrated her political aspirations. She participated in many extracurricular activities, including founding the Saint Anselm Broadcasting Club and volunteering at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. Moreover, she wrote articles for the college newspaper, The Saine Anselm Crier.
One of her more talked-about pieces was a 2016 opinion piece in which she took a firm stance behind Donald Trump, defending his travel ban and criticizing the “liberal media.”
“I will start by saying that journalists and news reporters have the right to express their opinions. Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives and independents alike can rightfully and freely discuss their beliefs. But it becomes a problem when journalists treat others with opposing opinions unfairly,” Leavitt wrote.
Internship at the White House
“Say what you want about Donald Trump. He is certainly not perfect, but he is without question running against not only a crooked candidate but the crooked and biased media as well. The liberal media is unjust, unfair, and sometimes just plain old false.”
Leavitt concluded her article by writing: “It’s vital that Americans educate themselves on the latest news by checking into all news stations; but more importantly seeing the reality that is buried beneath biases and special interests. If so, people may just see things from a whole new perspective.”
During her college years, Leavitt first became familiar with the White House when she landed an internship as a presidential writer in the White House Office of Presidential Correspondence in 2018. In an interview with the Associated Press in 2022, she recalled staying in the college dining hall to write her application rather than tailgate at a football game.
“I remember thinking, ‘If I made this opportunity, it’s worth missing any football game in the world,’” Leavitt said.
Leavitt spent one semester in Rome at John Cabot University before returning to the US and Washington. She became the first-ever member of her family to earn an undergraduate degree. Between 2019 and 2021, Karoline worked as an assistant press secretary for Trump’s Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, preparing for briefings.
How Karoline Leavitt became the White House Press Secretary
When Donald Trump lost the 2020 Presidential Election, she didn’t retreat. She landed the job as Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik’s Director of Communications, but her ambitions exceeded even that.
In 2020, she ran for election to the US House of Representatives for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District.
“I could no longer sit back and watch as our conservative principles — that make America the greatest country in the world and New Hampshire the best state in the union — fall under attack,” Leavitt stated on her campaign website at the time.
The campaign was successful, with Leavitt winning the Republican primary, though she lost the general election to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. When Donald Trump launched his 2024 Presidential Campaign, Leavitt got the chance to prove herself on the big stage. She worked as a press secretary during the campaign, and days after Trump won the election, she was to make history.
At only 27 years of age, Leavitt was named White House Press Secretary, becoming the youngest person to hold that position in history. Ronald Ziegler previously held the record when he landed the position during Richard Nixon’s administration at age 29 in 1969.
“Karoline Leavitt did a phenomenal job as the National Press Secretary on my Historic Campaign, and I am pleased to announce she will serve as White House Press Secretary,” Trump said in a statement appointing Leavitt as his press secretary.
“Karoline is smart, tough, and has proven to be a highly effective communicator. I have the utmost confidence she will excel at the podium, and help deliver our message to the American People as we Make America Great Again.”
Karoline Leavitt – family, husband, children
These days Leavitt has become famous worldwide, appearing in front of the media basically every day. But while she is passionate about work, she also has a private life, which is all about her family.
In 2022, during her congressional campaign, Leavitt met the man who would become her husband.
Nicholas Riccio, 60, was more than twice her age and Leavitt announced their engagement at Christmas in 2023.
She called their relationship “a very atypical love story” in an interview on The Megyn Kelly Show, noting that Riccio had been “incredible” from the very beginning.
The pair first crossed paths at an event organized by a mutual friend at a New Hampshire restaurant owned by Riccio.
“I was speaking. We met and we were acquainted as friends. And then we fell in love,” she explained.
In July 2024, they welcomed their first child, son Niko, and on January 4 this year, just days before Donald Trump’s inauguration, they got married.
“A mutual friend of ours hosted an event at a restaurant that he owns up in New Hampshire and invited my husband,” Leavitt said on The Megyn Kelly Show. “I was speaking. We met, we were acquainted as friends, and then we fell in love.”
“I mean, it’s a very atypical love story, but he’s incredible,” she said of her husband. “He’s the father of my child, and he’s the best dad I could ever ask for. And he is so supportive, especially during a very chaotic period of life.”
Donald Trump called Karoline after she had given birth to her son
Just four days after Karoline gave birth to her first child, Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
She decided she wanted to go straight back to work.
“I felt compelled to be present in this historic moment,” she told The Conservateur. “The president literally put his life on the line to win this election. The least I could do is get back to work quickly.”
One week after they came home with their newborn son from the hospital, Karoline got a call she might not have expected. Donald Trump was on the line, and he didn’t want to talk business.
“It was incredibly warm and kind. He wanted to check in. He asked me how I was doing,” Leavitt recalled, adding that Donald then gave the phone to Melania.
“Mrs. Trump and I talked about how wonderful it is to be a mother to a boy. They spoke about their love for Barron, and the president cracked a joke: ‘We have a little boy, but he’s not so little now!’”
Leavitt concluded: “That was such a special phone call. I’ll never forget receiving it.”
She and her husband are now preparing to welcome their second child, a baby girl, expected in May 2026.
“My husband and I are overjoyed to be expanding our family and can’t wait to see our son step into his role as a big brother,” she shared on Instagram, showing off her baby bump in front of a Christmas tree. “I feel so grateful to God for the gift of motherhood — truly the closest thing to Heaven on Earth.”
Karoline Leavitt is 32 years younger than her husband Nicholas Riccio
Karoline Leavitt and husband Nicholas Riccio have a 32-year age gap.
The White House Press Secretary has no issues addressing the age gap; in fact, she strongly believes it has benefited her career.
“He’s built a very successful business himself, so now he’s fully supportive of me building my success in my career,” she said, adding that her husband is “so supportive, especially during this very chaotic period of life.”
Although Karoline has one of the most demanding jobs at the White House, when she gets home, that doesn’t matter.
Speaking with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Leavitt said she is just like any other mom when she leaves her job and walks through the door at home.
“I spend every second that I possibly can with my son when I’m home on weekends and evenings. I try to make it home for bedtime as much as I can throughout the week,” she said, admitting that she finds it “challenging” to be a mother. “I think every working mother understands the demands. No matter where you are, what you’re doing, there is a sense of guilt,” Leavitt concluded.
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